Level 5 Service

Consulting, Not Insulting

There are few things more frustrating than watching someone who is an absolute genius in their craft getting overwhelmed by the management side of business. That is why we educate our clients to keep them aware of dangers and opportunities for growth.

To relieve the stress from managing a business, our firm has integrated “Level 5” into our methods. Level 5 is a combination of tools, activities, and monitoring processes that transform financial data into management methods and real time feedback on business health. A few prominent examples of the program include financial fluency, key performance indicators, and incentivizing staff involvement.

The Level 5 tools culminate into a business dashboard which highlights the key elements of your business. One quick glance at a successful dashboard should give all the information you need to make operational decisions or corrections based on real-time data.

Once procedures are in place to maintain the administrative side of business, the overwhelmed artist can get back to their craft with a full understanding of the financial impact of daily activities without all the extra stress.

Start with why

How great leaders inspire actionSimon SinekTEDxPugetSound

Level 1

Technical Foundation

Tax Return

Audit - Review

Accounting

Level 2

Thorough Analysis

Level 2a: Analyze & Educate clients about Critical Ratios

Level 2b: Conduct What If scenarios

Level 3

Future Focus

Help clients set goals and associated strategies for improvement

Level 4

Link to Performance

Link financial goals with business activities

Measure outcomes of business activities

Level 5

Continuous Improvement

Help clients monitor critical activities and strategically manage business activities

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are the measurements of your critical business activities. As a quick example, a call center would almost certainly measure things such as number of calls, average call length, and sales close rate.

Once KPIs have been determined and are able to be tracked, they can be used as a real-time snap shot to monitor business health. This also helps when management responsibilities need to be transferred among staff as it is much easier for someone to step into a position that has clear and measurable standards for success.

Financial Fluency

At the most basic level, financial fluency is the understanding of 3 reports:

By understanding each report and how they interact, managers can use historical data to make budgetary decisions based on the financial health of the business.

Once a basic level of understanding is obtained, a change in reporting methods or overall business operation may be declared necessary based on what the company’s needs are. For example, do you want your financials ready to apply for a bank loan or to reduce your end of year tax burden?

Balance Sheet

Profit & Loss

Statement ofCash Flows

Incentivizing Staff Involvement

The ideas and tools within Level 5 are staff focused and promote employee buy-in which increases retention and motivation. The simple idea of your voice being heard in most businesses is a huge draw especially for the younger generation.

While decisions are ultimately still up to management and owners, drawing feedback and ideas from staff is also hugely effective. Level 5 is most successful in a “Say-Anything” culture which is a business mindset that promotes double-flow constructive feedback interaction between staff and management. This increases visibility of issues with day to day activities for management which in turn boosts productivity and efficiency.